Clearances & Safe Environment

Information

Archdiocese of Philadelphia policy state that all Church personnel must obtain clearances, as required by Pennsylvania law. This includes any individual 14 years of age or older, applying for or currently in a paid position as an employee responsible for the welfare of a child or having direct contact with children. All adult volunteers (unpaid) who may have any possible contact with or responsibility for children must also submit clearances.
 
Archdiocesan compliance guidelines state that clearances should be submitted prior to the commencement of employment or volunteer service.

Required Clearances

The following clearances must be obtained by employees:(teachers, staff, and paid coaches)
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Clearance*
  • Pennsylvania State Police Clearance*
  • Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance*
  • Act 126 Clearance
  • Safe Environment Training
 
 The following clearances must be obtained by volunteers living in PA continuously for 10 years:
 
The following clearances must be obtained by volunteers living in PA for less than 10 years:
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Clearance*
  • Pennsylvania State Police Clearance*
  • Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance*
  • Safe Environment Training
 
* Indicates a clearance required prior to any contact with children or starting employment

Instructions For Obtaining Required Background Checks

PA State Police Criminal Record Check
  • Go to the PATCH Page.
  • Click on Record Check (top center of page) and then New Record Check.
  • Follow instructions.
  • Print results for school records and your records.
 
PA Department of Public Welfare Child Abuse Clearance Check
 
Federal Criminal Background Check
  • Go to the IdentoGO® Background Check Page:
  • Enter one of these service codes:
    • 1KG6TR is the code for clergy, faculty, staff, coaches, moderators
    • 1KG6Y3 is the code for volunteers.
 
  • Click on Schedule or Manage Appointment and complete the required information.
  • For fingerprint locations in PA, please visit the following website: https://www.identogo.com/locations/pennsylvania (there is one at Street Rd and Mechanicsville)
 
  • Please bring the completed registration and your fingerprinting results to the Archbishop Ryan Main Office.

Act 126

Effective January 3, 2013 Act 126 amended the Public School Code of 1949 to mandate that all school entities and independent contractors of school entities complete three (3) hours of Child Abuse prevention training every five (5) years to all employees who have direct contact with children or routine interaction with children. This includes contracted substitute teachers and non-certificated employees or contracted employees (i.e. coaches, bus drive, custodian, etc.).  This is required for all paid employees.  
 
If you employ a contracted worker during the summer months or afternoons/early evening (i.e. part-time painter) when students are not formally attending school but might be participating in other activities, they are required to complete training only if they have direct contact with children.

The Department of Education recently released the Act 126 training modules that were created as a way to assist schools in meeting these requirements. In order to be in compliance with Pennsylvania law, please instruct your new and current school employees to register and complete this training before the end of the 2018/2019 academic year.
 
All school employees must complete this training every five years. To access Act 126, do the following:

Safe Environment Training

All clergy, faculty, staff, coaches, moderators, and volunteers of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who have regular contact with children (at least one time per week) must complete the Safe Environment Training as outlined below:
 
Classroom Component (Part I)
Protecting God's Children provides basic facts about child sexual abuse and adults’ roles in prevention. Registration is required within 5 days of hiring.  Attendance is expected within 90 days of hire. To register, Click Here.
 
Mandated Reporter Online Component (Part II)
Mandated Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse provides an overview of Archdiocesan reporting procedures for suspected child abuse and Pennsylvania Child Welfare Laws. This training is mandatory for all new clergy, staff, and volunteers.  All of these trainings may be accessed at our Training Institute on our website at https://learning.childyouthprotection.org/login/index.php.
 
Thank you for your patience while the system was being upgraded. Please contact us with any questions at 215-587-2466 or [email protected].

Clearance Renewal Requirements

All required clearances, including FBI, must be renewed every five years.
 
Volunteers who have been a resident of Pennsylvania for less than 10 years must renew their FBI Fingerprint clearance until they reach 10 years of residency in Pennsylvania. Once the volunteer meets the 10 year residency requirement, they must complete a Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers which must be submitted every five years.